November 1991 - L.A. Lakers Star Magic Johnson Announces He Has HIV
On November 7, 1991, during a press conference at The Forum in Inglewood, Lakers All-Star Point Guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced that during a recent physical exam, he had tested positive for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which is associated with the disease AIDS, and was to retire from professional basketball.
Johnson later formed the Magic Johnson Foundation to help fight HIV through awareness, education, and research, and became an outspoken advocate in fighting the disease.
Despite initially retiring, he was voted by basketball fans to start in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, amidst fears from other players of contracting the virus through an open wound. But Johnson scored 25 points, ended the game with a dramatic three-point shot, and was awarded as the game's Most Valuable Player. Johnson also participated in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain as part of the USA men's basketball "Dream Team" made up of star NBA players, which won a Gold Medal. He eventually returned to basketball, becoming an inspiration to those with HIV, and retired from playing permanently in 1996 on his own terms.
Johnson's career post-basketball has been just as eventful as his athletic tenure. Aside from his HIV/AIDS activism, Johnson became a late-night TV talk show host, a recording label owner, and most notably, a successful entrepreneur and businessman, investing in underserved, predominantly black communities such as L.A.'s Crenshaw District, creating jobs, through the establishment of entertainment centers and restaurants. He later owned a minority stake in the L.A. Lakers for a number of years, and in 2012 led an ownership group that successfully purchased the financially-beleaguered Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.
The sports legend has been able to successfully fend off the adverse effects of HIV for over 20 years by taking a daily combination of drugs.
Johnson's announcement forever changed the way society viewed the disease, and those infected by it. Since its discovery in the early 1980s, HIV/AIDS cases were associated with white gay males and intravenous drug users. Social stigmatization of the disease and its victims ran high due to an overall lack of awareness. Now as the world's most visible spokesperson for the disease, Johnson immediately increased awareness and education about the disease to heterosexuals and people of color.
